


Baby Mine

by thilia



Category: Big Time Rush
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 04:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thilia/pseuds/thilia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he comes back to apartment 2J, James finds something completely unexpected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby Mine

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY, so basically I saw this prompt meme thing on my dash earlier today, and one of the prompts was "accidental baby acquisition" and for some reason that prompt just _screamed_ showverse!Jarlos to me, so I had to write it and... yeah, here it is. The title is... yeah. I couldn't think of anything else~

"Um. Carlos?"

"Hmm?"

"Carlos. _Carlos_."

"What?" Carlos looks up at James and gives him a smile while James just stares at him blankly, trying to comprehend the scene in front of him. 

"This may be an odd question but… Why on earth is there a _baby_ on the coffee table?"

Carlos looks down at the bundle on the table and smiles. "I know, right? Isn't she cute?"

It doesn't even come close to answering James' question – but he does have to admit that the baby is rather cute. He watches Carlos as he leans over the child and brushes a finger over her little cheek, and he tries not to melt when the baby grabs Carlos' finger, her hand looking so tiny wrapped around it. Carlos' face lights up and he starts cooing, and James finally manages to make his legs work long enough for him to make his way over to the table and flop down on the couch beside Carlos. 

He watches Carlos play with her for a moment, then decides that he really should find out whose baby that is and why Carlos is acting like she it's not weird or unusual that she's there at all. 

"Please tell me you didn't kidnap a baby," he says warily, eyeing Carlos. 

Carlos looks up and frowns. "Of course not," he says. "I got back from the pool and she was just there."

"Just where?" James asks, blinking. 

"On our doorstep," Carlos replies, shrugging. "With a bag full of stuff."

He points at the giant plastic bag next to the coffee table, and James reaches for it, rummaging through it. There are diapers, a bottle, formula, a couple of clean onesies and toys; everything you need to take care of a baby for a few days. 

"No note?" James asks after he's thoroughly searched the bag. 

"Nope," Carlos answers as he picks up the baby and puts her over his shoulder, rocking her gently. 

"Huh." Frowning, James sets the bag back down and watches Carlos, suddenly struck by the realization that Carlos looks oddly perfect with a baby in his arms. He's good with kids and has had some practice taking care of babies, considering he has several younger siblings. 

"You know we can't keep her, right?" James hates to be the voice of reason, and it feels strange to act all responsible, but someone has to. 

Carlos looks over at him and his face falls, crushing James' heart a little bit. "Why not?"

"Because she's not ours!" 

Carlos flinches, and the baby starts crying. James' voice came out a little louder than he intended, but he instantly feels bad when Carlos gives him a reprimanding frown and starts rocking the baby and whispering comforting words into her ear. 

"I'm sorry," James murmurs after a moment. "But Los, she's not ours. We need to find her mom, or someone else who can actually take care of her."

Carlos manages to calm her down and then looks at James with big sad eyes. "I guess," he says softly, then adds, "But what if the mom comes back to get her? Can't we at least keep her until tonight, just to make sure?"

James is torn, and feels his initial resolve crumble when Carlos' bottom lip juts out and starts quivering. He _knows_ James is completely powerless when confronted with Carlos' pout, and clearly using it to his advantage. James wants to be mad, but he can't be. Not at Carlos, not ever. 

He sighs heavily. "Okay, we can keep her until tonight. But if no one shows up, we'll take her to the hospital or police or something, all right?"

Carlos' face lights up instantly, a huge, white smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Deal!"

James feels his own mouth curl upwards and rolls his eyes before moving closer to Carlos and touching the baby's little cheek with a finger. 

It's a convenient time for a random baby to just appear, he thinks. They have the apartment to themselves for a few days, since Mrs. Knight has taken Kendall, Katie and Logan home to Minnesota for a short visit. Normally, James and Carlos would've gone with them but since James' mother is on a business trip and Carlos' parents are visiting family abroad, Mrs. Knight trusts them to look after the apartment for a few days. It took a while to convince her they're responsible enough to be on their own for a few days, but eventually, they managed to charm her, and she agreed reluctantly.

James briefly wonders what Jen would think if she could see them right now, then decides not to. He has a feeling she wouldn't be thrilled. 

"Do you smell that?" Carlos asks after a moment, breaking the comfortable silence.

James sniffs, then furrows his brow and groans. "Oh. Oh wow, that's bad, what the–"

Carlos snickers at the expression on James' face and stands up with the baby, taking her into the kitchen and gently setting her down on the counter. "Get me a diaper and the wet wipes please."

James raises a brow at how bossy and take-charge Carlos is all of a sudden, then jumps into action, finding the requested items and handing them to him. He stays close to him, looking over his shoulder as Carlos undresses the baby, blowing a raspberry against one of her little feet and making her giggle. 

Carlos expertly removes the old diaper while James turns away, trying not to black out at the rather strong smell. He turns back just in time to see Carlos fasten the new diaper on her. He smiles down at her, and the baby gives him a toothless grin back. "There, that's done."

Carlos looks up at James and beams, and James smiles back tentatively. "So… what now?"

"I don't know," Carlos says, shrugging. "We play with her, I guess."

He thinks for a moment, then beams. "We should let her try out Swirly!"

James' eyes widen comically. "Carlos, no. She's gonna hit her head when she comes out down here!"

"Not if you catch her," Carlos points out, but James keeps shaking his head vehemently. He's good at sports and catching balls and likes to remind everyone of that fact, but he doesn't quite trust himself to catch a baby when it shoots out of a swirly yellow tube. 

Carlos sighs heavily. "Fine. What if I hold her and slide down with her? Or both of us? Would that be all right?"

James considers this for a moment, then decides that that might be safe enough. They make their way upstairs and Carlos sits down at the top of the slide, the baby between his legs, arms wrapped securely around her. James takes a breath as he gets behind Carlos, legs on either side of him, arms wrapped around him as well. "Okay."

He pushes them off and they slide down the slide – slower than usual because James instinctively digs his heels into the sides of the slide to stop them every once in a while to make sure they don't get too much speed. They finally arrive at the bottom and the baby giggles. 

"See? She liked that," Carlos says, pleased. 

James rolls his eyes but has to agree. 

"You know, we should give her a name," Carlos says all of a sudden, studying the baby's little face.

James tilts his head. "But she probably already has a name."

"Yeah, but we don't know it," Carlos points out. "And it's weird if we just call her 'the baby' all the time. Unless we actually _call_ her Baby, in that case it would be all right."

James looks at Carlos, a little exasperated, but then agrees. "All right, you go ahead and name her then."

He feels himself smile as he watches Carlos look at the baby intently, and her look back just as intently. He grins when the baby pokes Carlos' nose with one of her tiny fingers.

"Emma," Carlos says finally, looking up at James. 

"Why Emma?" James asks. He likes the name; it just seems kind of random.

Carlos shrugs. "She looks like an Emma. Look."

He turns her around in his arms and the baby makes a happy gurgling sound, making James laugh. "You're right, she does. So… Emma Diamond-Garcia," he says, then slaps himself inwardly and wonders why he would say that. 

Carlos, however, seems unfazed and gives him a smile so sweet that it almost makes James' knees weak. "That sounds perfect."

Carlos rocks her in his arms, holding the eye contact. "Do you wanna hold her?"

James looks at him worriedly and shakes his head. Carlos rolls his eyes. "Come on, you're not gonna hurt her."

He thrusts the baby into James' arms and James holds her close to his chest, carefully, hand wrapped around the back of her head. She looks up at him and smiles, and James can't help smiling back. He glances at Carlos uncertainly but his friend just gives him an encouraging smile. 

"See? She likes you too," he says happily. "You're a natural."

A small blush colors James' cheeks and the tips of his ears, and he quickly looks back down at the baby – Emma.

The next few hours are spent entertaining Emma. They play with her, make faces at her, tickle her; make her laugh. Time seems to fly when they're with her, and the initial oddity of the situation passes quickly. Later in the day, it already feels as if they've had her for months. 

All the laughing and games eventually tire her out and Carlos holds her as she falls asleep on his shoulder, tiny hand clutching the fabric of his shirt. James is right next to him, looking down at her fondly. 

When evening approaches, James decides to broach the subject of taking her somewhere safe again, knowing that Carlos won't like to hear it. James himself doesn't like the idea either but knows they can't keep her forever. 

"We really should, though," he says quietly, trying not to wake her up as he tries to convince his friend. Carlos' face suggests how much he doesn't like James' idea. 

"Can't we just keep her till the morning? I don't want her to be in some dumb hospital or police station during the night. What if she gets scared? What if she needs us?"

James sighs; he should've known that Carlos wouldn't just accept this. And it's not like he _wants_ to take her away. In the few hours they've spent with her, he's grown really attached to her and doesn't like the idea of just handing her over to someone else without knowing where she'll end up. But they can't just keep a baby that isn't theirs, can they? James is pretty sure that's illegal – maybe they should've let her go the moment they found her and are already in huge trouble for not notifying someone right away. 

But Carlos is looking at him with those heartbreaking puppy eyes again and James feels himself get weak. "Carlos…"

"Please," Carlos whispers. "Just one night. We'll take her away in the morning, promise."

James rubs his forehead and stares at his friend for a long moment. He's about to say no when a wail sounds through the room. As if sensing that they're talking about getting rid of her, Emma has woken up and is now crying. Loudly. 

"See? Now you've upset her," Carlos says, giving him a disapproving frown before standing up with the baby and rocking her. 

"Me?" James exclaims. He's tried really hard to keep his voice down and he doubts he was the one to wake the baby up. 

He opens his mouth to protest but Carlos frowns at him, silencing him, and strokes the baby's head. "It's okay, love, you can stay with us. It's okay, don't cry."

James sighs, and gives up. Carlos has promised to reconsider taking her back in the morning, and James is too tired to fight. Besides – he has other worries right now. Like the fact that the baby's crying really loudly and not even Carlos' gentle rocking seems to calm her down. And the walls at the Palmwoods are thin; thin enough for their neighbors to hear this, and the last thing they need right now is for Bitters to show up and demand an explanation. 

James jumps to his feet and makes his way over to Carlos, standing behind him. He shushes Emma and tries to calm her down with nonsense words and gentle touches, but nothing seems to work. James starts making faces at her, hoping to amuse her enough to make her stop crying, but nothing works. 

He's about to suggest checking her diaper again when there's a loud knock on the door. "What's going on in there? Open the door!"

James and Carlos' eyes widen simultaneously. "Bitters!"

"You need to hide her while I try to distract him," James hisses, reacting as fast as he possibly can. He grabs the remote control and turns on the TV. "Carlos! Bathroom, now!"

Carlos nods, eyes still wide, and quickly takes the crying baby into the bathroom. James takes a deep breath and makes his way to the door, smiling nervously when he comes face-to-face with a really suspicious-looking Bitters. 

This can't be too hard, right? They've managed to hide a freaking _cow_ from Bitters before, so a baby is nothing compared to that. 

"Hello! What can I do for you on this lovely evening?" Okay, maybe he's overdoing it a little.

Bitters eyes him. "What's that noise I just heard?"

"Noise? What noise?" James asks innocently, and looks into the room behind him. "I'm just watching TV."

"I thought I heard a baby," Bitters says, peering into the apartment over James' shoulder. 

"A baby?" James asks, and lets out a very exaggerated and fake-sounding laugh. "You must've imagined it! How could you hear a baby? We don't have a baby! You _know_ we don't have a baby."

Bitters eyes him again. "Then you won't mind if I take a quick look around inside."

James' eyes widen and he panics a little when Bitters tries to push past him, and he starts stammering, trying to come up with a reason for Bitters _not_ to come inside. Then he spots Camille. 

"Camille! Hi!"

Bitters stops and looks at her disinterestedly. 

James stares at her intently and Camille frowns, but seems to understand what's going on. She reacts instantly and smiles at Bitters. "Hey, I was looking for you," she says, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. "The vending machine downstairs is broken _again_ and needs your instant attention. It's crucial for you to go down there _right now_."

Bitters looks torn for a moment, and James is afraid he's gonna insist on inspecting the apartment after all – but finally seems to consider the situation in the lobby his priority, and leaves. With a menacing look at James, he announces, "I'll be back."

James gives him a smile and waves, then slumps against the doorframe when Bitters is out of sight. "Thank you," he tells Camille. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

Camille smiles. "No problem. Always glad to help."

She leans in. "Now, what's going on?"

James knows he kind of owes it to her to tell her – and they can trust Camille. And maybe she's the solution to their problem. Maybe the baby just needs a womanly touch or something. "Okay, come in."

He grabs her and tugs her into the apartment. "He's gone, Carlos, you can come out."

The bathroom door opens and Carlos sticks his head out. A moment later, his body follows, still cradling the baby in his arms. 

Camille's eyes widen. "That's a baby!" she exclaims. 

James nods. "Yep."

"How… why… _how_?" Camille almost shrieks, and James winces. The combination of Camille's shrieking and Emma's still insistent whining won't help their situation with Bitters.

"We'll explain later," he says hurriedly. "Right now, we need to get her to be quiet or Bitters will be here again in two seconds, and he'll kick us out if he finds a baby here! Help us!"

Camille seems to understand, and reaches for the baby. "Have you changed her?"

"Yeah," James says. "She hasn't pooped for hours, and she was fine one second and now she just won't be quiet and we've tried _everything_."

Camille rocks the baby and coos to her, then looks at the two clueless-looking boys. "When's the last time you fed her?"

Carlos and James look at each other, opening their mouths simultaneously, their eyes widening in understanding. Camille rolls her eyes. "You haven't. Okay, step aside, let me handle this."

She hands the baby to James, finds the bag with the supplies and warms up the formula. She fills the bottle, then takes the baby back and holds the bottle to her mouth. The baby latches on immediately, and silence falls over the apartment as she starts drinking. 

Camille rolls her eyes. "Honestly. Considering how much you two love food, you'd think that'd be the first thing you'd try."

James smiles sheepishly. "We kind of forgot, I guess. Thank you, though, you saved our asses just now."

Camille shakes her head. "Don't mention it. Now, who on earth is this baby?"

James and Carlos exchange a look, then explain the situation to Camille, from the strange find of the baby on their doorstep, to them deciding to keep her till the morning. Camille looks doubtful about that last part but doesn't say anything, probably reassured by the fact that Carlos and James have had her for several hours now and she's still alive and well. 

"We named her Emma," Carlos tells her, looking at the baby proudly. "Isn't she cute?"

"She's adorable," Camille agrees. She smiles down at the child for a moment, then looks back at Carlos and James. 

"I have a date," she says when the baby's fed and she sets the bottle down on the counter. "So I can't stay and help you. But if you need anything, just call me, okay? You seem to be doing an okay job with her but if there's anything wrong, call me."

James nods. "Of course – we will, promise."

He takes the baby back and puts her over his shoulder, patting her back gently. "Thanks for your help, Camille – we owe you."

"You do," Camille agrees, raising a brow. "Now go be daddies and don't let her out of your sight. And please, take her to the police tomorrow, or the hospital. Maybe someone's played a mean prank on the mom and stolen her, and she's looking frantically for her. You can't keep her for more than one more night. Okay?"

"Yes, I swear!" Carlos promises. Reassured that Emma's in relatively good hands, Camille leaves, and the door falls closed behind her. The baby, now quiet, is warm on James' shoulder, and he keeps rubbing her back lightly until a surprisingly loud burp comes out of her mouth, and James feels something wet on his shoulder. 

He closes his eyes and takes a breath, then sighs. "Did she just–"

"Yep," Carlos says, and can't suppress a grin. "But hey, I think she's asleep now, so maybe we should find a comfy place for her to sleep. You can't keep her on your shoulder all night. And we should probably get some rest too; I bet she doesn't sleep through the night just yet."

James nods. "Yeah, I'm just about ready for bed too," he murmurs. "I never thought babysitting would be this exhausting."

He wipes her mouth, and they take her into their bedroom. They push their beds together and then use several pillows to build a little wall around her. They cover her with a blanket and look down at her fondly. 

"You should go shower," Carlos murmurs after a moment, looking up to meet James' eyes. "I'll stay with her."

James nods. "Yeah, all right. I'll be right back."

He brushes a finger over Emma's little hand, reluctant to leave her, even for ten minutes, but then makes himself go take that shower. Just before he closes the door, he hears Carlos' soft voice as he sings to her. He glances into the room and just watches them for a long moment, listening to Carlos' voice. Finally, he makes himself leave and go into the bathroom.

Clean and dry, he returns to the bedroom several minutes later, only to find that Carlos has fallen asleep next to the baby, arm resting on the pillows surrounding her. James watches them for a moment, then slips into his pajamas and joins them, carefully lowering himself onto the bed on Emma's other side and watching first her for a moment, then Carlos. He looks so peaceful. Beautiful, really. 

James sighs dreamily and brushes his fingers against Carlos', thinking how perfect this would be if they could actually keep the baby; if she could be theirs. And if Carlos could be more than just his best friend…

James sighs softly as he pushes those thoughts down; now is not the time to think about his giant, unrequited crush on Carlos. He leans over and kisses the baby's forehead, and is about to close his eyes and go to sleep, when he notices that Carlos isn't asleep after all, and that his fingers brush against James'. 

A shiver runs down James' back as he meets Carlos' eyes over Emma's head.

"We really can't keep her, huh?" Carlos whispers after a moment, looking sad. 

James gives him a sad smile. "I wish we could, but… no. We can't take care of her forever, and the sooner we give her to someone else, the sooner they can find out what happened to her mother. Besides… it's probably better to have her gone by the time Mrs. Knight comes back. Something tells me that she would not be happy to find her here."

Carlos sighs. "Yeah," he murmurs. "It would be nice if she was our own, though."

James gives him a little smile and squeezes his fingers. "It would be. Maybe someday."

Carlos looks at him through the semi-darkness, then pushes himself up on his elbow, leans over Emma and brushes his lips over James'. Stunned, James returns the brief, chaste kiss, and looks at Carlos in surprise when the other boy puts his head back on his pillow, closes his eyes and goes to sleep without another word of explanation

James' heart is racing as he tries to process what just happened. Carlos kissed him. Carlos _kissed_ him. Does that mean that his crush isn't as unrequited as he thinks it is? Does Carlos like him? Or is it just that he's emotional from spending the day with an adorable baby, acting all fatherly together?

James sighs, and thinks it's probably the latter. 

Still, his lips still tingle from Carlos' kiss as he finally allows exhaustion to wash over him, and falls asleep, dreaming of Carlos and their baby.

• • •

When James wakes up, both the baby and Carlos are gone. Worried, he jumps up and makes his way into the den where he finds Carlos with the baby in his arms, feeding her while they're watching Spongebob. The image is strangely perfect, and James takes a moment to take it all in and watch them before making his presence known.

They feed Emma alternately while they're eating their own cereal. Then, they give her a bath and change her after a brief argument about whether the pink onesie would be more appropriate, or the green one. Green wins, and when they're both dressed as well, they leave the apartment. 

Sneaking past Bitters in the lobby seems almost impossible, and once again, Camille assists them, distracting Bitters long enough for them to sneak past the front desk undetected. Then they get into a taxi and drive to the nearest hospital, thinking that might be a more appropriate place for a baby than a busy police station. 

They enter the building slowly, both trying to delay the dreaded moment for as long as possible. At the front desk, they talk to the friendly-looking lady there and explain the situation. She calls a nurse to pick up the baby and assures them that the baby will be taken care of. 

While they wait for the nurse to arrive, their eyes meet and they know it's time to say goodbye. 

James looks at Emma for a long moment, then kisses her nose. "Take care, kiddo. We'll miss you."

He touches her cheek gently, then carefully hands her to Carlos who looks miserable. James wishes there was something he could do to make him stop looking like a kicked puppy, but there probably isn't anything. He watches Carlos pull Emma close. "We'll miss you, baby," he murmurs. "Don't forget us, all right? Cause we'll never forget you. Ever."

He kisses her forehead and buries his face in her neck, breathing in her baby smell and James wraps his arms around both of them, wishing this perfect moment didn't have to end.

A minute later, the nurse arrives, thanks them for acting so responsibly and bringing the baby back, assuring them that she's in good hands now, and promising to call them to keep them up to date on what happens to her. Then the baby is carried away and Carlos swallows hard as he waves at her. "Bye, Emma… Bye."

Carlos and James stand in the lobby for a long moment, both feeling lost and not sure what to do now. 

They finally turn to leave the hospital, and their hands automatically find each other as they step outside into the bright sunlight. James squeezes Carlos' hand and looks down at his friend. "We did the right thing," he says softly. 

"It hurts, though." Carlos' voice sounds small as he looks up at him, eyes still sad. 

"I know," James agrees. "But it's for the best."

Carlos nods and looks down at his feet. James desperately wants to make him feel better; there's nothing worse in the world than Carlos being sad. He waits for a moment, then turns to him, still keeping Carlos' hand in his own, and using his free one to gently tilt the other boy's face up to his. 

He hesitates. "So… about last night."

Carlos is looking at him, not saying anything, and James feels his cheeks heat up. "The kiss," he adds.

Carlos shifts and smiles a little, lowering his head again. "Yeah… sorry about that. I guess I was just… It just seemed like the thing to do then."

James' face falls. "So you regret it?"

At that, Carlos' head shoots up and he shakes it intently. "No. No, never. I don't regret it."

James nibbles his lip and studies Carlos' face. "So, um." He hesitates, then closes his eyes and splutters, "Wouldyouliketodoitagain?"

He keeps his eyes closed, and doesn't open them again, too scared of what he'll see in Carlos' eyes, until Carlos tugs on his hand a little. Then he feels Carlos' other hand curl around the back of his neck and pull him down. Their lips meet in a gentle, tentative kiss, and James' stomach flips. 

When they draw back, he looks down into Carlos' dark eyes, and feels a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Is that a yes?"

Carlos grins back. "Might be."

James' smile widens and he squeezes Carlos' hand. "Do you wanna go home and… do some more of it?"

Carlos gives him a smile; a real one. His earlier sadness seems to vanish, and he nods. "I'd love that."

They don't make it back to the Palmwoods before they start kissing again; they've barely fastened their seatbelts in the cab when they throw their arms around each other and kiss as if their lives depended on it. Soon after that, James finds out that he isn't the only one who's had a crush on Carlos for a while – Carlos has been feeling the same for him all along. Apparently they just needed a baby to give them that final push.

They hear back from the nurse several days later. They haven't found Emma's mother and assume she doesn't want to be found, that having a baby overwhelmed her or she didn't have the means to raise her. Why she chose to drop her off at their apartment, they'll probably never know. 

The nurse keeps them updated, so they find out when a nice family adopts her and gives her a home. They're even allowed to visit her when the nurse tells the parents that they took such great care of her that day. 

Not all that much changes for Carlos and James. A few days later, Logan and Kendall are back, and things go back to normal. Almost. Cause now they're boyfriends and when they hang out together, there's a lot of snuggling and kissing involved. So much, in fact, that Logan and Kendall pretty much beg them not to be all over each other all the time. 

But James can't help it. He's dreamed about being this close to Carlos for so long that it's hard to keep his hands to himself. But he does make an effort and tries to limit the smooching and snuggling until they're on their own, in their room, where their beds are still pushed together.


End file.
